This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The Administrative Core provides efficient service to the Kansas INBRE, assuming most of the time-consuming jobs of this complex, multi-campus initiative so as to improve the ability of Kansas researchers to compete successfully for NIH research grants. The offices of the Core are located in a two-year-old 207,000 sq ft research building (Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center, KLSIC). The Core is staffed by the P.I., J. Hunt (40% effort), the Associate Director, P. Smith (20% effort) and the Assistant Director and Administrative Officer, H. Chapman (100% effort) as well as J. Lyon (75% effort). Dr. Hunt is responsible for the development of programs and assessing/improving the overall impact of K-INBRE programs with the goal of improving the competitiveness of Kansas researchers for NIH research awards. She personally guides the progress of the Administrative Core, decides on methods of procedure, interfaces with university and commercial administrative persons and chairs all meetings of INBRE personnel and advisory persons. As Associate Director, Dr. Peter Smith, whose office is one floor down from Dr. Hunt in the KLSIC building, is immediately available for consultation and decision-making regarding grant applications and other procedures. Dr. Smith passed his directorship of the Bioinformatics Core to Dr. Gerry Lushington on the KU-Lawrence campus. Dr. Smith directs the KUMC Bioinformatics satellite core and the Outreach Core, which links campuses through the Polycom Communications System. Ms. Chapman is in charge of day to day running of the core and supervises a 0.75 FTE (9 mo. effort) assistant, Mrs. J. Lyon. Together, they prepare all financial reports, process applications for Research Support grants, establish committee meeting sites and agendas, supply accurate minutes, develop symposia and carry out daily communication among the INBRE participants. Chapman and Lyon work productively with the Senior Project Manager for the Kansas IDeA program, Ms. Renee van Erp, who assists with public relations and publications. The choice of the research focus on Cell and Developmental biology has been providential. An extended network of researchers directly or indirectly addressing questions of cell and developmental biology has been established and a number of inter-campus collaborations have been developed. One example is performance and interpretation of microarray experiments and results assessed by the bioinformatics satellite core conducted at KUMC for investigators on many different campuses. Another is partnering between the K-State campus and the KU-Lawrence campus on use of mass spectrometry for assessing changes in lipids and proteins during experiments.